We are taking loans for Nigeria’s progress, says finance minister

The Federal Government will not make progress unless it borrows more to fund critical infrastructure in the country, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said.

Mrs. Ahmed spoke on Thursday during the maiden edition of the weekly special ministerial media briefing, organised by the Presidential Communications Team.

She said though the country had expanded its borrowing, it was still below 25 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio and within borrowing limit.

She said: “There is a lot of sensitivity in Nigeria about the level of borrowing by the government and it is not misplaced. And I said earlier that the level of borrowing is not unreasonable, it is not high.”

“The problem we have is that of revenue. So, what we need to do is to increase revenue to be able to enhance our debt to GDP obligation capacity. If we say we will not borrow and therefore not build rails and major infrastructure until our revenue rises enough, then, we will regress as a country. We will be left behind, we won’t be able to improve our business environment and our economy will not grow. So, it is a decision that every government has to take.”